


Imagine That

by JamesAeza



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Arguing, Caring Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Crying, Escapism, Explicit Language, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Imagination, Kingdoms, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, No Porn, Romance, the OCs are all very minor, they're yelling at each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesAeza/pseuds/JamesAeza
Summary: Janus follows Roman into his Imagination kingdom, just to find out what he's actually doing in there.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I thought that Roman caring way too much about his people was a rad concept so here's this, I hope you enjoy.  
> The second part will be out tomorrow, It's already all written.   
> Also, I don't usually write Roceit but I think it worked here.

As far as Janus knew, the only reason Roman disappeared into his silly ‘imagination’ for days at a time was to play hero. To act like he was a beloved prince, and escape from his depressing reality for as long as he could. 

That was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. Roman needed to grow up and get over it, stop playing pretend like a little kid. 

So, he’d done the reasonable thing and decided to follow him in. Watch why this foolishness might be so intriguing to the other man. He’d first watched Roman bid everyone goodbye, asking if they might need anything before he left. Then, after disguising himself as just another citizen of the fantasy kingdom, he followed the prince in. 

The first thing he’d noticed was the way Roman’s silly, overly glamorized costume shifted into much more realistic attire for the time. It was similar, just far less embellished, and it didn’t look like it belonged in the clearance section of a Halloween supply shop. He also suddenly had a leather satchel on his hip, which he’d checked the contents of and seemed satisfied with. 

The second thing he’d noticed was how relaxed the other man seemed to become as he shut out anything else, focusing now on being nothing more than a leader to the people.  _ His  _ people.

They entered the town at an ornate gate, and Janus sunk into the shadows, half there, unnoticed, to commence his snooping. 

As Roman confidently made his way through the streets of the small village, a group of young children ran up to him. One little girl threw her arms around his legs. “Prince Roman, Prince Roman, where have you been?”

He quickly crouched down, greeting each child by name. “Alex, Patricia, Annie, Jack! I had to do some work, but you know I missed you!”

There was something in the prince’s expression that startled Janus. A light in his eyes, an upbeat demeanor he’d never seen before. No wonder the children seemed so excited he was there. 

“Patty, are you getting taller? You look taller than you did last time I saw you!” That elicited a giggle from the girl.

“You saw me last week, silly!”

Roman put his hand to his chin, as if thinking hard about something. “I guess I did. Oh well, I suppose you’re still small.” 

“No, I’m big!” 

“Well if you’re that big, I guess I can’t pick you up anymore,” Roman stated, faux dejection in his tone. 

“Wait, no!” Patricia looked a little embarrassed for a moment before informing him, “I’m not  _ that  _ big yet.”

“Well in that case.” Roman grinned, scooping her up and spinning around in circles, much to her delighted squeals. When he finally put her down, the other kids looked eager for their turn. He repeated the process with each of them before going a little calmer. 

“Guess what? I brought you something.” He observed the children’s happiness for a moment before pulling out a big ball from his satchel. Far too big to fit. 

_ Mary Poppins style bag.  _ That was just like the Roman he knew. 

“To replace the one Carrie’s dog ate,” he announced before tossing it in the air, offering a mock salute, and leaving the children to play. 

Janus was, to say the least, surprised by Roman’s ease and joy at talking to the pretend children of his imagination. He wondered if he’d seen enough, if maybe he should head back, but his curiosity already had the better of him. He slunk through the shadows, watching Roman cheerfully greet the citizens by name, making polite talk like “is your wife doing any better?” and “I hope you find that cat soon.”

Finally, he came to a stop at a seemingly random home. His disposition became a bit more sobered as he knocked and a young woman answered the door. He greeted her quietly. “Kira. Any better?” 

The woman, Kira, sighed. “No. Sasha hasn’t even eaten in days, and we’re all worried she might not pull through.”

“I’m sorry. May I see her?”

“Of course.” The lady opened the door to let him in, and they both disappeared inside for almost a half hour. 

This was very odd to see. Janus had never seen Roman care this much, about anyone or anything. Why were these people so important to him? They weren’t even real.

And if this Sasha was doing poorly, why didn’t Roman just… fix it? He did have full creative control here, didn’t he?

There was so much that Janus didn’t quite get. 

As Roman exited the house, bidding goodbye to the inhabitants, Janus was quick to follow him again. 

The next stop was a large stone building that seemed to be some sort of school. Roman made his way to the field out back, greeting a group of teenage boys in uniforms. 

Ah. In training to be guards. But... why? Roman didn’t need any of these mundane things to happen, he could have made everything perfect with a snap of his fingers. 

Maybe he just needed to keep observing. 

“Alright Pedro,” Roman was saying. “Let’s see that parry I told you to practice.”

One of the boys stepped forward, blunted sword in hand. Roman picked up one of the practice weapons too, unwilling to fight a teenager with his real sword. 

Getting into position, he watched them begin.

It was surprisingly beautiful, almost like a dance. An unplanned dance, but lovely all the same. They threw and dodged and deflected in perfect harmony. Roman, of course, won, but as he helped the boy up he offered praise. “You’re getting much better, just keep practicing. You’re a very promising young swordsman.” Pedro beamed. 

He addressed another boy. “Louis! You’re graduating soon, are you not?” Louis smiled a little shyly and nodded. “Just next month.” 

“Wonderful! I look forward to it.” Roman grinned at the boys, making small talk with a few more of them before being on his way. 

Janus was slinking along, seemingly unnoticed, when Roman turned to him and he froze. Roman had his big prince-smile on. “Hello! I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What’s your name?”

“I, uhm, J- Jake. My name is Jake.”

Roman shook his hand firmly. “Very nice to meet you, Jake. I am Roman, Prince of this fair city of Menda. Say, have you met any of the nice young ladies around here yet? I think you’d rather like Emma-”

“Actually,” Janus interrupted. “I swing the other way.”

“Ah.” Roman’s eyes widened. “In that case, perhaps you’d like to go for a ride through the forest with yours truly?”

Janus’s eyes widened at that. Was Roman really asking a person he believed to be imaginary out on a date? But then again, Roman clearly thought of his people as more than just imaginary. After all, calling Roman himself ‘real’ might not have been strictly true. Why shouldn’t he ask out someone of his own creation?

Janus should have declined. He knew that, really. But… there was that curiosity again. Yes,  _ curiosity.  _ Regarding Roman and his domain. Nothing more. The curiosity was what made him say, “I’d be honored. When would you like to?”

The date, if you could call it that, had gone… surprisingly well. Obviously Janus had needed to tweak a few truths, but he’d really had no idea how much he and the prince had in common, or how much he enjoyed just being in the other’s presence. 

Janus had thought about revealing himself. But by now, he was deep in a lie, and Roman was deeply in love with “Jake”.

And somehow, Janus didn’t want to lose that. 

But when, after three beautiful dates in the imagination, they ended up in Roman’s bedroom, he knew even he couldn’t hold onto the lie. When Roman started tugging on his shirt, Janus stopped him.

“Jake? What’s wrong, dearest?” God, it wasn’t fair that Roman’s stupid terms of endearment made him melt. “I… I’m sorry, did I go too fast?”

“No! I mean… that’s not it.”

“What is it then, love? Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

Janus shook his head. “That’s the thing. Once you know, you won’t think it’s okay.”

“I doubt that.”

“I don’t.”

“Please. Tell me what troubles you, darling.”

Janus took a deep breath in. “My name isn’t Jake.”

Roman just looked perplexed at that. “Oh...kay. What is it then?” 

“Janus,” he mumbled, giving Roman one good look at him, as himself, before disappearing back to his own room. 


	2. Chapter 2

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.   
Roman could not believe he’d allowed himself to be played by the snake yet again. A few shallow compliments and a little bold flirting, and Roman was helpless.   
He should never go on another date again, he wasn’t to be trusted. He was so useless.  
Head spinning, he stumbled out into the hall. Remus. He needed his brother, the only person who’d be willing to listen to his upset venting. He made his way toward Remus’s door, only just remembering that he had to lift his hand and knock. Remus was at the door in a heartbeat. “Who iiisss it? Does the nerd want some of this agai- Ro!” Remus threw himself into Roman, leaving the prince to wonder what Remus had meant by that.  
Remus was quick to notice, though, that his twin was upset, and he dragged him into his room, pushing him into a seat on the bed. “What happened? Who do I have to murder? I have several delectable new weapons that-”  
Remus stopped when he noticed that Roman was crying. “That bad, huh?”  
Roman just nodded through the tears as he allowed his brother to rub his back. Soon he had his voice back, and he started to try to explain. “It- it’s Janus. Deceit.”  
“Oh, Satan. What’d the snake do this time?”   
“He.. he…” he didn’t finish his sentence before falling back on his brother in sobs. Remus just let him, waiting until he was ready. “He pretended to be a hot boy named Jake and- and he was in my kingdom. And I- I asked him if he wanted to meet the ladies and- and he said…” Roman paused to blow his nose before continuing, “he said he liked men so I asked him out, and he said yes, and then we were about to- you know, and he told me who he was and left, and he was Deceit the whole time.”  
Remus had never been the best with feelings, and right now his brain was on the track of ways to torture Janus and make him pay for making Roman cry. But he knew that wasn’t what Roman would want. So he pushed it back, letting his brother cry on him and trying his damn hardest to be comforting. 

“Patton, I fucked up.”   
“Janus, langua- are you okay?”  
Moving out of the kitchen, he led Janus over to the sofa, helping him sit down. “What’s wrong?” Patton was very concerned, Janus didn’t look the least bit okay.  
“I… I made a really big mistake.”  
“Do you want to tell me what it was?”  
Janus nodded slowly. “I… I was curious about someone. And I think I liked them a little. But then, there was a... misunderstanding, and they thought I was someone else. And- he asked me out. And I said yes. And I led him on for three dates, and then we were about to… take the next step, and I revealed myself and left.”  
“Roman?”  
“Yeah.”  
Patton sucked in a breath. “Well kiddo, I can say that it would have been a lot worse if you didn’t tell him at all and he found out on his own.”  
Janus nodded, trying to find comfort in that small fact.   
“And- if he liked you as that someone else, maybe he can like you as Janus, too. Don’t get me wrong, you lied to him and you played with him, and that’s not okay, but- I can see you’re already sorry. Maybe this thing isn’t in the gutter quite yet.”  
Janus shook his head. “I don’t know, Patton. Roman doesn’t really think that way. And besides, I’ve toyed with him before. He’s going to be mad I did it yet again.”  
Patton nodded. “I don’t doubt he’ll be mad. But I’ve seen the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you, and I think maybe you shouldn’t give up all hope.”

Janus was not sure that this was a good idea, but on Patton’s instructions, here he was, about to knock on Roman’s door. It took all his willpower to lift his hand and do it.   
After a few moments, the door slowly swung open, which was more than Janus had really been expecting. When he looked inside, though, it was empty. It took him a moment to recall- Roman must be in the imagination.   
After a few minutes of consideration, he made his way out into the kingdom. He donned Jake’s persona just to get through the gates without too many weird looks, as well as not looking too out of place asking where the prince might be.   
After asking around for awhile, he found himself outside a small, quaint cottage by a lake. Standing outside and allowing himself to become Janus again, he heard voices inside. One that sounded remarkably like his prince. It was saying something along the lines of: “I dunno, granny. This isn’t the first time he’s messed with me. I’m not sure I’ve got it in me.”  
Janus wasn’t sure he had it in him to knock, but he managed, and a sweet older lady came to the door. “Oh, hello young man. Can I help you?” She asked.   
“Oh- um… Janus coughed, trying not to betray his nervousness. “Is Roman -I mean Prince Roman- here?”  
“Oh!” The lady seemed a little surprised. “Yes, just in here,” she said, leading Janus inside and calling, “Oh Prince Roman, you have a visitor.”  
When he entered the small room, Roman stared at him in shock. He lifted a gloved hand and offered a little wave.   
Roman spat out his tea.  
“Granny, this is him, this is the guy-”  
“Oh!” the woman suddenly seemed very upset. She turned to a supremely uncomfortable Janus. “You made him very sad, you know that? He was just talking to me about how you broke his heart!”  
Janus had never been chewed out by a grandmother before, and he was quite certain he did not care for it. “I- I’m sorry, can I talk to him?”  
“Well that’s up to him, isn’t it?” She turned to Roman, who was still holding his teacup in the air in shock.   
“I, uh,” he quickly set the cup down, standing up to tower over Janus. Something the other man sometimes found endearing, or even arousing, but right now it was just terrifying. “Yes, we can talk. We should probably do it outside.” Janus shivered. “Thank you for the tea, granny,” he said, forcing the two of them out the door.   
Once they were out of vocal range of the house, Roman started. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Janus cringed back, though he knew full well he deserved this.   
“A lot, clearly.” Janus answered.   
“That’s not funny.” Roman said angrily. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, Janus, that hurt. I cared about you- er, Jake, and you were just lying. Using me. Actually, I’m rather curious. What exactly was my purpose in your little scheme?”  
“None.” Janus said nervously. “There was no scheme.”  
Roman laughed, but without mirth. “Yeah, sure, and I’m not Creativity.”  
“I’m telling you, I wasn’t planning anything.”  
“Uh-huh-”  
“It was because I liked you!”  
Roman froze. “No. No, you’ve played with my feelings enough.”  
“Just hear me out.”  
“No-”  
“There was no way you’d like me this way, so I had to be someone good enough for you.”  
“...oh”  
He shook his head. “But really, I’m not good enough for you. As Jake, or as Janus, or even dressed up as Logan. I’m just not. And I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me. That’s all I wanted to say.”  
“Janus,” Roman began, “you… you lied to me. And you messed with me. And that’s not okay, and I’m not saying it is.” Janus lowered his head a little. “And we’re going to talk about this later. But for right now…” Janus looked up into the other’s eyes, confused. “Just kiss me.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to feed me with comments, I would be very grateful.


End file.
